Portable Garment Steaming System

ABSTRACT

A clothing de-wrinkling device which employs clips to hold shirts and pants at two points and expose the fabric surfaces to steam communicated to a closed enclosure. The clips when engaged will hold the fabric of the shirts or pants taught and thereby increase the de-wrinkling of the steam. Also provided are shirt sleeve engagement members which will hold the two side portions of shirt sleeves taught during exposure to steam.

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/367,383 filed on Jul. 24, 2010, and is incorporated herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to devices configured for portability andto hang and enclose garments for garment care purposes. Moreparticularly to a device configured to hold clothing in a manner to bestexpose all surfaces while concurrently employing steam to removewrinkles.

2. Prior Art

Professional and consumer methods of cleaning garments haveconventionally been the means to provide the average business personwith clean, wrinkle free clothing. Many pressing methods employed byprofessional cleaners, typically employ high pressure steam and can becostly for the consumer. Additionally, such high temperature andpressure devices commercially employed can even cause permanent damageto the garment fabric if used incorrectly. Furthermore, professionalpressing of clothing, and or cleaning methods and services, aregenerally time consuming in that it takes a day or two to have clothingcleaned and pressed. Even in hotels, clothing left for the hotel staffto clean and/or press, generally takes a few hours and in a hotel suchservices are prohibitively expensive. Such time consuming and generallyexpensive services are generally undesirable for the on-the-go businessperson. This is because they generally are moving from hotel to hoteland meeting a strict schedule to leave and meet clients. Having to waitfor the hotel or a commercial cleaner, to deliver an unwrinkled and/orclean shirt or pants is simply not an option.

However, hotels have little to offer guests in the way of a means tode-wrinkle clothing that has spent a few days in a suitcase, other thana conventional steam iron, or laundry service. The same problem existsin homes as the steam iron, or perhaps dryer with steam capability isthe only option to render wrinkled clothing presentable.

Prior art has shown attempts to provide devices for enclosing garmentsfor wrinkle removal or garment freshening such as in U.S. Pat. Nos.3,576,079 to Hauser and 7,444,840 to Jackson et. al. These, and otherprior art devices, however do not provide adequate support for thegarment during the steaming process as needed, to expose all surfacesand hold them in an as-worn position during steaming for sufficientremoval of wrinkles.

As such there is a continuing and unmet need for an improved device forremoval of wrinkles in garments which suffer from such an affliction dueto suitcase storage or having been laid too long and become wrinkled.Such a device should eliminate the time consuming and potentiallydamaging process of using a steam iron. Ideally, such a device, inaddition to de-wrinkling clothing, should also refresh it through alight cleaning. Further, such a device should be sufficiently small toallow its repositioning within hotel rooms as a guest-accommodation, orin laundry rooms or dorm rooms where space is at a premium. Such adevice should provide support for various aspects of a garment, such asthe arm sleeves or pant legs, to position it much like the garment wouldbe if worn by the user. Finally, in one mode, the device should becollapsible and portable for the on-the-go business person, or to makeit easy for a hotel to move it to a room or any other locationconvenient for a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device herein disclosed and described provides a solution to theshortcomings in prior art and achieves the above noted goals through theprovision of a garment enclosure configured to expose clothing to acloud of steam employing a framework for supporting clothing and asurrounding enclosure. The framework may employ fixed supports or mayinclude telescoping or collapsible support elements for more compactstorage or transportation. Furthermore the enclosure adapted to surroundthe clothing engaged to the frame may be any of a rigid door, a fabricenclosure or a flexible plastic curtain. Employing the fabric orflexible plastics aids in the collapsible nature of the collapsible modeof the device. For more permanent installations, such as hotel rooms orlaundry rooms, the enclosure may be formed of solid plastic or glassoperatively engaged to more rigid support elements for the framework.

The device in the preferred mode, employs a means to support garmentswithin the enclosure such as hangers and clips to maintain a majority ofthe garment surfaces exposed to the steam held within the enclosure. Itis particularly preferred that the device employs form components forpositional biasing of the arm sleeves or pant legs of a garment.Furthermore these support means may also aid in producing or maintainingcrease lines in garments as is often seen in formalwear.

In general the device employs a means to produce steam and circulate thesteam throughout the enclosure, which on contact with fabric, willremove wrinkles on the enclosed supported garments. This may include,but is not limited to, a water reservoir, heating means to producesteam, and one or a plurality of circulating fans. There mayadditionally be exhaust fans for removing steam and drying the garment.

With respect to the above description, before explaining at least onepreferred embodiment of the herein disclosed invention in detail, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited in its application tothe details of construction and to the arrangement of the components inthe following description or illustrated in the drawings. The inventionherein described is capable of other embodiments and of being practicedand carried out in various ways, which will be obvious to those skilledin the art. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein are for the purpose of description andshould not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying outthe several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstruction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

It is an object of the invention to provide a garment enclosure with ameans to produce steam for removal of wrinkles.

It is a further object of the invention to provide support componentsfor an enclosed garment including hangers and clips.

It is another object of the invention to provide form components for armsleeves or pant legs of garments to enhance the removal of wrinkles andmaintaining crease lines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows isometric view of the device detailing the variouscomponents.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the lid component of the device detailing thehanger mount.

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the lid component of the device.

FIG. 5 depicts a front view of the shirt hanger component of the device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the pants hanger component of the device.

FIG. 7 shows an isometric view of the clip component of the device.

FIG. 7 a depicts a mode of the engagement collar which allows for asnap-on engagement to the upright members.

FIG. 8 shows a front view of the clip component of the device.

FIG. 8 a depicts the rotatable sleeve engagement forms employable withthe device for shirts.

FIG. 9 is a view of the base component of the device detailing thevarious circulation fans and steam producing means.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the base component of the device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Now referring to drawings in FIGS. 1-10, wherein similar components areidentified by like reference numerals, there is seen in FIG. 1 and FIG.2 views of the device 10 depicting the enclosure 12 and framework. Theframework is defined by a lid 14, base 16, and a plurality of supportmembers 18, 19, 21, 23 extending therebetween.

In a particularly preferred mode the support members 18, 19, 21, 23 arecomprised of a plurality of coaxially aligned concentric cylindricalelements that are slidably engaged in a telescopic manner as a means tocollapse the device 10 for compact storage of the device 10. However,the support members may also be of a fixed length should collapsing thedevice 10 not be a desired requirement.

In this mode providing for collapse, the support members 18, 19, 21, 23can be locked in an upright position for supporting the enclosure in theas used mode as described. It must be noted that those skilled in theart would recognize various other ways to store and compact the deviceand are anticipated in this disclosure and should not be consideredlimited by the depictions and descriptions set forth in the figures. Inadditions the structural support of the device 10 achieved by thesupport members could as well be achieved by more or fewer such memberswhile four are shown merely for demonstrative purposes.

A shirt hanger 20 is slidably engaged to the lid 14 at mount 38 (FIG.2). The shirt hanger 20 employs a shape similar to shirt hangers knownin the art while the shoulders of a shirt are engaged to the hanger 20by conventional means. The slidable engagement allows for selectivepositioning as desired within the enclosure 12. A removably engageableshirt hem clip 22 is slidably engaged to the first support member 18 andsecond support member 23 via slidable friction engagement of coaxiallyaligned concentric engagement collars 32. The clip 22 is preferablyinline in a vertical plane with the shirt hanger 20 and provides a meansto secure the bottom hem area of a shirt (not shown) and thereby holdthe front and rear fabric surfaces of the shirt, taught. In this mannerthe hem clip 22 can be employed to attach to the shirt as a means tomaintain a biasing tension on a shirt engaged to the hanger 20 tomaintain the taught positioning and to further aid in the removal ofwrinkles.

A first 24 and a second 26 sleeve form are both rotatably engaged to theclip 22 at or near the engagement collars 32. In use, the sleeve forms24, 26 are inserted into the sleeve or alternatively the pant legportions of a garment, to bias the sleeve or pant leg portions away fromcontact with the body portion of the garment. The sleeve forms 24 and 26engage within the sleeve or pant lag by a sliding thereon whichcompresses the forms 24 and 26. The forms being formed of resilientmaterial, rebound to their expanded shape and thereby impart ataughtness to the sleeve, or if inserted to a pant leg, to the pant leg.This taughtness causes the garment material to lay flat on both sidesand to expose substantially all of the outer surface of a garment duringwrinkle removal. There is an additional clip 21 on which a t-shirt orother garment can be engaged for desired wrinkle removal.

A pants hanger 28 is slidably engaged to the lid 14 at the mount 38 orcould be engaged to the interior frame. In use the waistband of a pairof pants (not shown) are engaged to the pants hanger 28 with the pantlegs extending toward the pant cuff clip 30 for operative engagementwith the ankle cuff portions of the pants. The pants clip 30 is slidablyengaged to the third support member 19 and fourth support member 21 viaslidable friction engagement of coaxially aligned concentric engagementcollars 32. The pants clip 30 can similarly provide a means to employ abiasing tension on pants engaged upon an upper end, to the pants hanger28, and to maintain the exposed fabric taught, for improved wrinkleremoval as well as maintaining the crease line commonly seen informalwear.

The base component 16 of the device 10 houses the steam production means36. Also provided therein are one or a plurality of circulation fans 34.The steam production means 36 may include a water reservoir and heatsource operatively communicating with the water, or a hot or cold steamproducing device such as those using ultrasonic sound, or other steamproducing devices as would occur to those skilled in the art. The device10 further preferably includes a blower or exhaust fan 38 for removal ofsteam from the chamber and providing a means to aid in the drying of agarment after a steam treatment.

Details of the lid 14 are shown in a bottom view in FIG. 3. The lid 14employs a mounting means 38 for slidable engagement with the shirthanger 20 and pants hanger 28 (FIGS. 5 and 6). The mount 38 employs aslotted arrangement 40 to operatively receive the slidable engagementmounts 42,44 of the shirt hanger 20 and pants hanger 28 respectively(FIGS. 5 and 6). A front view is further seen in FIG. 4. The means forslidable engagement within the slot 40 of the mount 38 will becomeapparent upon further description of the shirt hanger and pants hangercomponents shortly.

The lid 14 further employs a plurality of operatively placed receivingcavities 41 for engagement with the support members 18, 19, 21, 23 todefine the framework. The means of engagement can be permanent orremovable depending on the desired portability of the current mode ofthe device 10.

FIG. 5 shows a front view of the shirt hanger component 20 of the device10. As mentioned previously the shirt hanger 20 is of a general shape ofshirt hangers known in the art and is preferably of such a resistantmaterial as to withstand the moisture and temperature conditionsexperienced in a steam rich environment. The slidable engagement mount42 of the shirt hanger 20 is further shown and is employed for removableand slidable engagement within the slot 40 of the mount 38. In thismanner a user can remove the hanger 20 to better operatively engage ashirt to it and replace it for steam cleaning as desired. It must benoted that those skilled in the art would recognize various othershapes, orientations, and means for slotted, removable, and slidableengagement of the components of the device while those depicted in thefigures are shown merely as the simplest description purposes. Thereforsuch modifications that are within the scope of the disclosed inventionare anticipated.

An additional t-shirt hanger 21 is engaged to the shirt hanger 20 toprovide the user with a means to removably engage a t-shirt. The hanger21 may be a clip or any other means for removable engagement.

Shown in FIG. 6 is a front view of the pants hanger 28 component of thedevice 10. The pants hanger 28 further employs a slidable engagementmount 44 employed for removable and slidable engagement within the slot40 of the mount 38 on the lid component 14 of the device 10.

A view detailing the elements of the clip component 22 can be seen inFIG. 7. It must be noted that in a particularly preferred mode of thedevice 10 both the shirt clip 22 and pant cuff clip 30 are ofsubstantially similar construction insofar as the depictions anddescription set forth in FIGS. 7 and 8 hold true for both of them.However, it is within the scope of the invention to employ specializedshirt hem clips or pant cuff clips that are specific to the garment theyoperatively engage with and is anticipated. As such the use of twosimilar clips as mentioned was chosen merely for demonstrative purposesand should not be considered limiting. Further, in a manufacturingsense, it may be desirable to produce only one style clip to reducecosts.

The removably engageable clip 22 generally includes a first portion 46and a second portion 48 that are rotationally engaged and biased towarda closed position (shown in the figure) by a rotatable biased engagementmeans such as a spring loaded hinge 53. In use, a user will engage therespective garment between the biased engagement of the clip portions46,48 which is engaged to the cross member 49 held elevated by thecollars 32 engagement to the support members. Slidable frictionalengagement of the clip 22 to the support members 18, 19, 21, 23 isachieved via engagement collars 32. In use, the engagement collars 32are coaxially aligned and concentrically engage about the supportmembers. A front view can be seen in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 7 a there is shown a mode of the engagement collar 32 which hasa gap 33 therein allowing for the two sections making up the collar 32to be biased outward away from the gap 33 when the collar 32 is slidupon or off of the support members 18, 19, 21, 23. This allows for aclip-on engagement. The collars 32 would be formed of resilient materialwhich would return to the original configuration which is sized toprovide a slidable frictional engagement with the support members.

FIG. 8 a depicts rotatably engaged sleeve forms 24, 26 which as notedabove, are inserted into the sleeve portions of a garment, or withinpant legs, to bias the sleeve away from contact with the body portion ofthe garment. The collapsing of the resilient forms 24 and 26, to getthem inserted into the sleeve, is resisted by the forms 24 and 26 whichrebound after an insertion. The rebound exerts a bias to theintersection of the front and rear walls of the sleeve or pant leg, anda taughtness to both surfaces. Thus the insertion and rebound provide ameans to force the two surfaces of a sleeve or pantleg taught and toexpose substantially all of the outer surface of that portion of thegarment during wrinkle removal with the device.

The sleeve forms 24, 26 are rotatably engaged to the cross member 49which holds the clips 22 at or near the engagement collars 32. A void 51within the frame forming the clips 22 allows for the frame forming theclip 22 and thus both sleeve forms 24 and 26, to compress into the void51 when a sleeve or a pantleg is slid upon the clip 22. The clips 22forming the forms 24 and 26, naturally rebounds outward to hold thefabric of the sleeve taught during employment of the device, andexposing it to the maximum amount of steam.

FIG. 9 shows a detailed view of the base component 16 of the device 10.The base component 16 similarly employs a plurality of receivingcavities 41 for operative engagement with the support members of thedevice 10 further defining the framework as previously described. One ofa plurality of circulation fans 34 are employed within the body of thebase component 16 and provide a means to evenly distribute steamthroughout the enclosure of the device 10. A power source such as an ACplug or battery may further be employed within the base component 16.

A means to produce steam 36 is preferably located within the basecomponent 16 of the device 10. The steam production means 36 may includeelements known in the art for producing steam from liquid water such asbut not limited to a water reservoir and a heating means. It isparticularly preferred that the steam production means 36 produce acomposition of steam that is advantageous to wrinkle removal ingarments. A top view is further seen in FIG. 10.

While all of the fundamental characteristics and features of theinvention have been shown and described herein, with reference toparticular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, variouschanges and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure andit will be apparent that in some instances, some features of theinvention may be employed without a corresponding use of other featureswithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth. Itshould also be understood that various substitutions, modifications, andvariations may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention. Consequently, all suchmodifications and variations and substitutions are included within thescope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

1. An apparatus for removal of garment wrinkles, comprising: an exteriorwall extending between a top and a base portion and defining anenclosure; a frame located within said enclosure; means to hang garmentswithin said enclosure; an upper portion of said means to hang garmentsengaged to one of said top or said frame; a lower portion of said meansto hang garments being engaged to said frame; means to communicate steamto said enclosure; and means to impart a taughtness to surfaces of saidgarments hung in said enclosure, and communicating between said upperportion and said lower portion, said taughtness of said surfacesproviding a means to expose a majority of an area of said surfaces ofsaid garment to said steam, whereby garments hung in said enclosure andheld taught are dewrinkled by said steam.
 2. A device of claim 1additionally comprising: said upper portion of said means to hanggarments including: means for temporary engagement to a waistband of apair of pants; means for temporary engagement to a shoulder area of ashirt having a body area below said shoulder area; said lower portion ofsaid means to hang garments including: means for temporary engagement tothe distal ends of pant legs extending below said waistband; and meansto temporarily engage the bottom edge of said shirt, opposite saidshoulder portion.
 3. The device of claim 1 additionally comprising: apair of elongated sleeve frames, configured of resilient material; saidsleeve frames insertable into distal ends of sleeves extending from saidshoulder portion of said shirt to an inserted position; said frames insaid inserted position, imparting a bias to communication points of twofabric walls forming said sleeves; and said bias providing means toimpart a taughtness to said fabric walls and thereby maximize an area ofsaid fabric walls exposed to said steam.
 4. The device of claim 2additionally comprising: a pair of elongated sleeve frames, configuredof resilient material; said sleeve frames insertable into distal ends ofsleeves extending from said shoulder portion of said shirt to aninserted position; said frames in said inserted position, imparting abias to communication points of two fabric walls forming said sleeves;and said bias providing means to impart a taughtness to said fabricwalls and thereby maximize an area of said fabric walls exposed to saidsteam.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said means for temporaryengagement to the distal ends of pant legs extending below saidwaistband, comprises: an elongated clip engaged to said frame and havingtwo contacting members; and means to bias said two contacting members toa biased contact therebetween where by said distal ends of said pantlegs are insertable between said two contracting members and held theirby said biased contact.
 6. The device of claim 2 wherein said means fortemporary engagement to the distal ends of pant legs extending belowsaid waistband, comprises: an elongated clip engaged to said frame andhaving two contacting members; and means to bias said two contactingmembers to a biased contact therebetween where by said distal ends ofsaid pant legs are insertable between said two contracting members andheld their by said biased contact.
 7. The device of claim 3 wherein saidmeans for temporary engagement to the distal ends of pant legs extendingbelow said waistband, comprises: an elongated clip having two contactingmembers; and means to bias said two contacting members to a biasedcontact therebetween where by said distal ends of said pant legs areinsertable between said two contracting members and held their by saidbiased contact.
 8. The device of claim 4 wherein said means fortemporary engagement to the distal ends of pant legs extending belowsaid waistband, comprises: an elongated clip having two contactingmembers; and means to bias said two contacting members to a biasedcontact therebetween where by said distal ends of said pant legs areinsertable between said two contracting members and held their by saidbiased contact.
 9. The device of claim 3 wherein one end of said sleeveframes are rotationally engaged to said frame and a rotation of saidsleeve frames provides means to move and maintain said sleeves adistance away from a central body area of said shirt.
 10. The device ofclaim 4 wherein one end of said sleeve frames are rotationally engagedto said frame and a rotation of said sleeve frames provides means tomove and maintain said sleeves a distance away from a central body areaof said shirt.
 11. The device of claim 7 wherein one end of said sleeveframes are rotationally engaged to said frame and a rotation of saidsleeve frames provides means to move and maintain said sleeves adistance away from a central body area of said shirt.
 12. The device ofclaim 8 wherein one end of said sleeve frames are rotationally engagedto said frame and a rotation of said sleeve frames provides means tomove and maintain said sleeves a distance away from a central body areaof said shirt.